Pentagon Deletes Documents After Report on Military Leaders' Disagreement
The Pentagon said it deleted internal documents after a newspaper report revealed that senior U. S. military commanders had opposed an extension of troop deployments in the Middle East. Pentagon officials earlier explained that senior commanders routinely file formal non-concurrences with the Defense Secretary’s orders, a practice the department said is standard. The Defense Department also described a Washington Post story about four senior officers objecting to a prolonged Iran operation as inaccurate.
A leaked classified assessment quoted four-star commanders for Europe, the Pacific, South America and the Navy, who told the secretary that redeploying assets to the Iran conflict strained readiness for other missions. Another classified Pentagon report warned that several combatant commanders had formally raised concerns about the strain that continued operations against Iran place on U. S. forces and the potential impact on global commitments.
